Evolution of an Image – Photo Versions

I have been trying for a few years to get this photo of the vegetation by the Emerald Meadows pond in Bridlewood but have not been happy with the results.

These first photos were taken in November 2023 with my small Panasonic Lumix TS5 camera that I used to keep with me all the time on the bike. Unfortunately even when set for Vivid it’s pictures look washed out and need to be improved with software,

These images are the first one I tried, from the camera, and then edited with Simply Good Pictures. It did not turn out too bad but still was not what I was hoping for.

 

So I tried another one, but was still not happy after editing it with Simply Good Pictures. Then I tried enhancing the reds in Photoshop Elements 2023 and further enhancing it with Franzis Color Projects, which I think I overdid. These images are those photos in that order.

I tried again in October 2024 with much better results, likely a result of a bright day with better lighting and using my new Panasonic Lumix FZ300 camera. The first photo is from the camera and the second is enhanced with Simply Good Pictures and Franzis Color Projects. I am quite happy with that result.

 

Upon reflection I began to think that this photo would be a good candidate for playing around with in Franzis Color Projects as well as Franzis Black & White Projects to see what kind of variations and effects could be created. The following slide show, starting with the final version above, shows the kind of variations and effects that can be produced.

 

Fernbank Road Pond Photo Versions

Slideshow of photos taken along the Fernbank Road Pond in Stittsville in July 2023 with my Panasonic Lumix FZ100 camera and edited with Photoshop Elements 2023, Simply Good Pictures 5, Franzis Color Projects 6 Professional and Franzis Black & White Projects 6 Professional.

 

(View in YouTube to view full screen)

More Fun With Photo Editing

I imagine most people have a favourite photo editor that they use for all their photo editing. Sometimes I like to mix it up and use different software for the different abilities each has. I will usually save my photos as lossless PNGs when transferring between different programs to avoid compression degradation.

Original Photo Taken with Panasonic Lumix FZ100 Camera

Cropped to 16X9 with JPEGCrops 

Auto Optimized with Simply Good Pictures

Red Channel Enhanced with Photoshop Elements 2023

 

Kaleidoscope Effect Applied with Franzis Color Projects

 

Object Removal with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 – The De-urbanization of a Pond

Back in the day, Inpaint used to be the standard for removing objects from digital photographs. Then I discovered Photo Stamp Remover which I found to be much better and easier to use. That all changed when I upgraded my Photoshop Elements 12 from 2013 to Photoshop Elements 2023. The interface has improved and the capabilities increased, not the least being it’s object removal capabilities, which are better than any other program I have tried. Photoshop Elements 2023 states “Adobe Sensei AI technology* and automated options do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the fun stuff”.

This project demonstrates the object removal capability of Photoshop Elements 2023.

The location of the photo used in this project was at the pond along Iber Road in Ottawa, Ontario, a block from the Trans-Canada trail.

Google Earth Aerial View of Site

The photo used in this project was one I took on November 14, 2012 with my Garmin GPSmap 62sc GPS camera which I had come across going through my GPS photos for my wallpaper project. I use my own photos for my Desktop PC wallpaper and change them weekly.

Original Photo

 

The original photo was cropped to 16X9 using JPEGCrops and then enhanced using Simply Good Pictures automatic optimization process.

Cropped and Enhanced Version

The result was a very decent photo but the first thing I noticed was the tree in front of the pond was distracting, even if it was a natural feature. So I thought why not try removing it since I had already been surprised by the object removal capabilities of Photoshop Elements 2023. I did not expect great results, the tree with it’s many branches being unlike a straight hydro line or telephone poll. I used the auto select function and surprised that the results were not bad, though they needed some tweaking with the brush function. I then took my shadow from the photo and a couple of culverts and voila the finished product.

Object Removal Version 1

Then I looked at all the buildings along the pond and thought let’s see if we can get rid of those and make this look like it’s not in the middle of a city. The first attempt to remove them all with the auto select function was quite unsatisfactory. So then I tried doing smaller sections using the auto select and brush functions and success.

Object Removal Version 2

 

That was it I thought but then I realized the railing along the pond still gave it’s urban location away. However, I thought with all the lines from the individual railings this was going to be impossible to remove and still have the photo look natural. First attempt using auto select on the whole railing confirmed that. But using the brush function and going a little bit by bit resulted in a decent image. The only giveaway was the apparent pattern among some of the apparently cloned geese. Some pondering and further editing attempts resulted in my removing some of the geese to break up the pattern and create a natural looking photo.

Final Object Removal Version 3

 

The moral of the story being when it comes to photo editing don’t be afraid to try things you do not think will work, you might surprise yourself.

Photo Versions Created with Franzis Color Projects

Way back in the day when I used to be a member of the Camera Club of Ottawa and we met at the NRC building on Sussex Drive the most usual criticism of my photos was that they were “good record shots”. I did not see that as much of a criticism at the time because then I mostly thought of photography as capturing what was there, rather than as artistic expression, and that composition was the main skill required. At that time I was using a Konica Autoreflex T3 35 mm camera shooting mostly Fujichrome 100.

When I got into digital photography and realized what one could do with photo software I began to see photography more as an art form, Of course even back in the days of film one’s choice of film to use and settings to use, not to mention darkroom work, meant that photography was always an art form.

Currently I do All my photography with digital cameras, my main go to camera being my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100. However the photo used in this blog post was taken with my Panasonic Lumix TS5 compact waterproof and shock resistant sports camera that I can easily carry in my small bike pouch at the front or in the pocket of my PFD when kayaking.

So far the best single click photo optimizer I have discovered is Simply Good Pictures 5 .For all around photo editing (and for display map creation) I tend to use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023. However more often than not I am using Franzis Color Projects 6 Professional for the interesting effects it can create. For conversion to Black and White my choice is Franzis Black & White Projects 6 Professional with it’s large selection of options.

Franzis Color Projects provides an extremely large number of preset effects, some that just enhance the quality of the photo, but also many that provide artistic effects that create a whole new look to the photo. Each preset choice can be further refined within the program. The program can also emulate many specific types of film.

For this demonstration project the original photo, taken on the Old Quarry Trail in the Ottawa Greenbelt, was shot with my Lumix TS-5 and then auto enhanced with Simply Good Pictures and then the individual effects were applied with Franzis Color Projects Professional 6. 

Original from Panasonic Lumix TS5

 Interim Phase - Simply Good Pictures Auto Enhancement

 

 Franzis Color Projects Edited Versions

 Natural Structure Dark

Natural Colour shift 1

 Natural Colour shift 3

Surreal shifted

Landscape Blue filter

Architecture Monochrome

Architecture Sketch

Portrait Low key

Artistic Water mirroring

 Painting Bright sketch

Easier Trail Mapping With My New GPS

Last year I started mapping the Greenbelt trails using my GPS unit. With my older GPS unit it was a long complicated process requiring that I avoid overlapping my tracks and involving extensive editing in Photoshop Elements.

I talk about how I became interested in maps and my map making process in an article in the MTBKanata Newsletter.

With my new Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx, which is much more accurate, the process is much simpler.

When I recently mapped Greenbelt Trails 11 & 12 I did not have to worry about overlapping tracks nor did I have to do extensive editing. All that was required was to input the data into Google Earth and MapSource Topo Canada and save an image of the track, and then add whatever text or labels I wanted on the maps.

These are the maps that I created.





All of my Greenbelt maps can be found here.